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Hi all,

Mrs. MindDetective and I are heading to Frankfurt, Koblenz, Cologne, and ultimately Amsterdam for a conference. Any tips or European HF members in range of us?

I'm halfway between Brussels and Antwerp, so close but not quite. @Amorous Eyes is in Amsterdam, I think? And @Wahad is from somewhere in the Netherlands too. There's @LordRendar, our sole German member, but he's closer to Bavaria IIRC.

Depends on your personal interests and the types of things you want to see - I've only visited Cologne and Amsterdam from that list, but both are very nice cities to explore/walk around in. But I'm not well enough acquainted with either to make suggestions more valuable than your average TripAdvisor member.

Nice! Have a great trip! Flying into Frankfurt? Lufthansa?

@Bubble181
My feathered friend, I am from Hamburg.
I dont recommend staying long in Frankfurt. Its a banking city and a boring one at that. Cologne is nice and the people are very friendly. During what Dates will you be in Colonge?

I am the german lurker from Bavaria, my dear @Bubble181

And also busy this weekend, apart from being on the far end of this country.

LordRendar said:

@Bubble181
My feathered friend, I am from Hamburg.
I dont recommend staying long in Frankfurt. Its a banking city and a boring one at that. Cologne is nice and the people are very friendly. During what Dates will you be in Colonge?

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I'd say "almost Bavaria", but I actually think I'm closer

Just Me said:

I am the german lurker from Bavaria, my dear @Bubble181

And also busy this weekend, apart from being on the far end of this country.

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A-ha! I knew there was one! Sorry for mixing the two of you up. I'll buy each of you as many beers as you've won World Championship matches this year if we ever meet up

I am indeed located in the Netherlands, in the excellent city of the Hague. I can give you a few tips for Amsterdam, but if you have time, you should really come to the Hague, I can tell you much more from there.

What kind of tips do you want? Cultural? Historical? Culinary? A night out on the town? What's your budget?

Wahad said:

but if you have time, you should really come to the Hague

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Given that I only know one thing about The Hague, this sounds like a trap.

Shh. It doesn't work if you tell them it's a trap.

In all seriousness, Amsterdam is a fine city, but The Hague is my hometown so I gotta rep it.

Amsterdam's a great city for "a night on the town", a bachelor party, exploring, being very tourist-y. I don't actually know what the city is like outside of that, but they do have some great museums too.

The Hague...eh

drawn_inward said:

Nice! Have a great trip! Flying into Frankfurt? Lufthansa?

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Condor. We were packed in like sardines.

LordRendar said:

@Bubble181
My feathered friend, I am from Hamburg.
I dont recommend staying long in Frankfurt. Its a banking city and a boring one at that. Cologne is nice and the people are very friendly. During what Dates will you be in Colonge?

Click to expand...

We are just recovering from jet lag here in Frankfurt. We leave Sunday morning. Hopefully we can do a leisurely cruise up the river, stay in Koblenz Sunday night, then take the train to Cologne for two days. We will take a train to Amsterdam on July 4th and fly back to Frankfurt Saturday night.

Wahad said:

I am indeed located in the Netherlands, in the excellent city of the Hague. I can give you a few tips for Amsterdam, but if you have time, you should really come to the Hague, I can tell you much more from there.

What kind of tips do you want? Cultural? Historical? Culinary? A night out on the town? What's your budget?

Click to expand...

I am attending a conference in Amsterdam. I would love to see more of the Netherlands but I don't think the conference schedule will allow it. My wife is 7 months pregnant, so easy to do tips, good places to eat, especially near the University, that kind of thing.

I suppose any must-see tips, especially if they are something a tourist usually doesn't know of or misses out on would be neat. I have seen the Anne Frank house and the red light district in my last trip here. My wife has never been.

Things I know in Amsterdam that are good for eating/drinking are as follows; Brouwerij 't IJ (craft beer brewery), Blauw (indonesian restaurant), Foodhallen (basically a slightly upscale food court). These are all within a reasonable budget. If you have come here before July's over you have to get a herring from any local stand, 'cause they're delicious; but make sure to look for a stand that cleans them as they're served, not ones that have them laid out on ice. Unfortunately I don't know which stands are reputable off the top of my head. After July you can still get one, they just won't be as nice.

Things to see: there's a ton of museums in Amsterdam. The Van Gogh museum, Hermitage and Rijksmuseum are great if you like (historical) art, and the Stedelijk Museum for modern art. If you enjoy history in general, there's the Verzetsmuseum and the Joods Historisch museum, dealing with the resistance during WW2 and jews in the netherlands respectively. I would recommend climbing the Westerkerk if your missus weren't pregnant, 'cause the view is very nice. Also, if you have a day to just chill out, I highly recommend taking a stroll through a street market. Besides food (like fresh stroopwafels!), there's plenty of knick-knacks to be found if you like a souvenir, and it's just very nice in general to just stroll through the crowd and see what there is to be seen. I think the Dappermarkt is the closest one to the University from a quick google, but it's also one of the busiest, so you may be turned off by that.

A stroll through the Vondelpark might also be to your liking if the weather's nice, or you can buy some food and drinks at a local store and have yourself a nice picnic. The university also has a botanical garden (Hortus Bortanicus) which you might like if you enjoy nature stuff.

Just a small tip for Cologne (or Köln in German) if you order their beer, they will keep refilling it without asking. Place a coaster on top of the glass once you are done.